Arianna Hibiki
by Apex Sixtail
Summary: One day a young girl arrives at the Tendo Dojo. Just who is she and why is she there will shock the anything goes school of Martial arts to its foundations. Set about eight years after the series.
1. Chapter 1

Arianna Habiki

"Ranma 1/2" and most of the charicters and setting are copyright Rumiko Takahashi.

"Next stop, Nerima!" The young girl heard the conductor's voice over the loud speaker, signaling her stop. As she approached the door of the train, she let out a long sigh.

"Here goes nothing." She said as she exited the train and started the next, and hopefully last, leg of her journey, which was to find her mother. Over her short eight years she had learned only a few clues about her mother. One was she lived in Nerima, which came as a total shock to her since, until two days ago, she thought her mother had died when she was one. The next came from a picture she had found in her dad's backpack. It was wrapped in one of his prized bandannas. It was a picture of her mother breastfeeding her, with a shocked expression on her mother's face. When she asked her father about it, and after a fight for the photograph, he told her that he had taken it on accident. He had known that she was going away, and he wanted her to have something she could remember her daughter by. That was how she found out that her mother was still alive. "You know," she said to herself, "with all the revelations about my mother, maybe I went too easy on my dad." In the next breath, she was glad she didn't, because she didn't want to put too much burden on her dear aunt Akari. Before any more thoughts could cross her mind, a policeman approached her.

"Excuse me, miss, but aren't you a little young to be wandering about on your own?" He asked her.

"Well, if you're offering to help, could you tell me how to get to the Tendo Dojo?"

Akane backed into a corner to catch her breath. The attacks were coming almost to fast for her. She knew that one more could put her out of action for two days and totally at her attacker's mercy. She didn't want that so she did the only thing she could think of: "Alright, I give!" She yelled in between breaths.

"Damn!" Ranma exclaimed. " And I was so close to getting out of chores for a week." He had a mock pout on his face. "I guess I'll have to settle for just two days."

"Well, three if you massage out the pain you just caused." Akane said in a low tone as she sauntered over to the corner of the dojo he was currently standing in. As she got over there, she gave him a light kiss on the lips.

"You know, I would do that for free." He rebutted. "And the happy ending too." He wiggled he's eyebrows at her, causing her to giggle.

"So you think?" She asked him in a light voice

"Hey, it might happen, my dear Akane Saotome." He knew just how to get a rise out of her. Just as they leaned in for another kiss, a knock at the dojo door startled them.

"Hey you two, we just had the floor waxed after the last time. Give the wax time to get old, will you?" Nabiki said as she walked in. Well, waddled is more like it, considering she was eight months pregnant.

"Sorry." The couple said in unison as they separated and bowed toward their CPA. Nabiki laughed a light laugh at the younger couple.

"I just came by to drop off these papers before I go on maternity leave." She said as she walked over to them with a manila envelope in her hand. Ranma met her half way and took the envelope from her opening it up. "Their your financial reports for the third quarter. I took home a copy so David could get up to speed."

"These should get put in the safe before something happens to them." Ranma said as he hurriedly left the dojo.

"Oh, right, just be sure to leave me some hot water." Akane exclaimed as she walked over to her sister.

"There he goes again. You know, at times like this, you two remind me of when you were younger." Nabiki said.

"Oh, you mean before the trip." Akane said in a quiet tone.

"He still hasn't told you yet what happened on that trip, has he?" the older sister asked

"No, not yet." Akane said wistfully.

"Yet! Akane, its been eight years, you would think that after five years of marriage, that he would have told you something for his suddenly dropping his long held stubborn streak and finally moving along with your courtship."

"I guess I hadn't realized it. I suppose that a part of me thought that anything that made him change like that I didn't want to know about. I guess I just figured that he would talk about when he was ready."

"Well, any ways, I have to get going. David is waiting at the front gate…" Nabiki started but was interrupted by a male voice.

"Anybody here?" A young man, about the same age as Nabiki entered the dojo with a little girl. The man was a little taller than Nabiki, with short brown hair, thin framed glassed, a polo shirt and kakis. The little girl only came to just above his hip. She had short red hair, and piercing blue eyes. She had on a loose green Chinese style shirt and brown drawstring pants. The most striking features on the girl were the bandanna in her hair, and the little fang in the corner of her mouth.

"David, who is this?" Nabiki asked as they entered the dojo.

"I don't know. A police officer approached me saying that she had wanted to come her." As the girl felt all present eyes on her, she cleared her thought before she began her explanation.

"Hello, my name is Arianna Habiki. Yes, my father is Ryoga Habiki. Aunt Akari assured me that you all know him."

"Yes we do." Akane assured her. "Where is your father?"

"Dad had to stay on Aunt's farm until his injuries healed." As the two Tendo sisters gasped, Arianna felt the need to go on. "We sort of had a disagreement, and dad found out just how good of a student I really am." She said as she cracked her knuckles, a small grin alighting her face. "The argument is the reason I am here."

"And that would be?" Nabiki prompted

"To find my mother. Dad said if any where, I'd find her here."

"Oh, and what is her name?" Akane asked as she ran thru a list in her mind of every girl that had crossed her path that might have had a child eight years ago. No one crossed her mind.

"Here, I have a picture of my mother from shortly after I was born." Arianna searched thru her backpack for the picture. Once she found it, she handed it to Akane. After seeing the picture, Akane passed out on the spot. Nabiki took the picture from her sister and looked at it.

"Oh yeah, this should prove to be interesting." She commented as both her and David looked at the photo. Just at that very moment, Ranma walked into the dojo still in his gi.

"Hey, Akane I thou—What happened!?" He exclaimed as he witnessed the seen before him.

"Why don't you tell me?" David said as he handed Ranma the picture.

"I..I..I..I" Ranma's brain had shut down as he saw a picture he thought only one other person in the world knew about, much less had. It was a picture of his girl side feeding her newborn daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

"I..I..I..I" Ranma's brain had shut down as he saw a picture he thought only one other person in the world knew about, much less had. It was a picture of his girl side feeding her newborn daughter. After a few seconds, Ranma's brain kicked into gear. Unfortunately, the first thing that came to mind was the Saotome final attack. In a flash Ranma had half of Nerima between himself and the past that had finally caught up with him.

"Well," Nabiki said as the shock of the whole scene left her, "I guess we should get Akane to her bed." David, immediately knowing that whenever his wife said we, it usually meant him. So, being the good brother-in-law, he scooped Akane up and proceeded to the master bedroom.

_Thank god little Haru is over at his Aunt Kasumi's. _David thought as he laid Akane on the bed. Nabiki walked in a minute later, with Arianna close behind.

"So, this is the woman that my dad was in love with before he met my mother." Arianna whispered.

"Trust me kido, your dad knew your mother long before he met Akane." Nabiki commented. Arianna looked up at her with confusion in her eyes.

"But why would dad chase Akane if he already knew my mother?" She asked.

"That's just one of the questions I would be willing to pay a small fortune to hear an answer to." Nabiki commented. Then Nabiki entered interrogation mode. "So, what did your father tell you about your mother."

"Well, dad said that when they were younger, they fought all the time. Dad said that usually he would be the one to start the fight. That kind of puzzled me because I often heard my dad saying that he would never hit a lady. He said that I got my agility from her, and my strength from him. He would jokingly call me his little antabeast." Arianna chuckled at the nickname, but Nabiki couldn't see the humor in it. She just chalked it up to Ryoga's twisted sense of humor.

"So, what about a sense of direction?"

"I fortunately got that from my mother. Dad couldn't find his way to the vacant lot behind Grandma and Grandpa's house."

"So you met your grandparents?"

"Only once. They showed up at Aunt Akari's farm about a year ago. We invited them in for tea, but when we turned our backs, they disappeared. Dad said they probably got lost trying to find the house, even though it was in plain sight of us."

Nabiki shook her head. "That's the Hibiki family curse for you." She chuckled. Arianna joined in with a giggle of her own.

"What's so funny?" Akane, who had just chosen that moment to wake up, said. She sat up in bed and looked around the room. She stopped as her eyes landed on Arianna. "So it wasn't a dream." Arianna extended her hand toward Akane.

"Hi, my name is Arianna Hibiki." Arianna introduced herself. Tentatively, Akane shook her hand.

"I'm Akane Saotome. Welcome the Tendo-Saotome Dojo." Akane flashed Arianna a warm smile. Then she looked at Nabiki. "Where is that husband of mine? I think we need to have a talk." Akane said as her fist clenched in anger. Just then, Arianna yawned. "Oh dear, you must be tired after your journey." Akane said as the anger suddenly disappeared. "Here, I'll take you to the guest room." Akane got up off the bed, and headed for the door. Arianna stood up off the chair that she was sitting in and followed the older woman to the door. After a short trip down the hallway, they came to the guest bedroom, once again turned into the guest bedroom. "Here you go, you can stay in here for however long you like or need. Lord knows you wouldn't be the first person to practically move in there." Akane finished her statement with a sigh, remembering how long Ranma stayed in that room before they took up their current residence in the master bedroom. That brought back memories of the moving day as every one called it. The day after the event of the century as almost all of Nerima had labeled it. Kasumi moved in with Dr Tofu, being they were wed two days prior in a small ceremony at the courthouse. That had come as a shock to everyone since Kasumi practically burst at the seams with excitement when Akane had asked her to help plan her wedding. That shock paled in comparison the shock every one felt when two months later, Kasumi announced that she was three months pregnant. During the next week, while Ranma and Akane were on their honeymoon, Mousse, Daisuke, and Hiroshi helped move Soun into Akane's old room, while simultaneously moving both Ranma's and Akane's possessions into the master bedroom. A few misshapes had happened, like Soun's personal journal being left in the drawer that Ranma's socks ended up in. Akane smiled at the rare show of restraint that he had displayed when after finding it, immediately walked over the Elder Tendo's new room and handed it to him. During the moving, Genma was persuaded to move back in with Nodoka, or was it that Nodoka had to be persuaded to allow him to move back in with her. She never did get the official story. Nabiki stayed at the Tendo residence until she graduated from the local college in Tokyo. After that she moved to America where she studied finance at Sanford. There she met David Carpenter. They were married last fall, eight months ago.

"Mrs. Saotome?" Akane broke out of her flashback when Arianna spoke.

"Sorry, I guess I was just reminiscing." Akane said as a light blush graced her cheeks. Arianna walked into the room, bowed thanks to Akane, and proceeded to lie down and curl up on the bed. Akane's heart melted as she watched the young girl sleep for a moment. Then she closed the door, turning around and leaning against it with a sigh. She then straitened up, steeled herself, and resolved to get to the bottom of this new little oddity that had graced the streets of Nerima.

Shampoo stood up strait to relieve some of the pain in her back. She grumbled about her current condition, and the one responsible for it. She thought she would be use to it by now, after all this was the third time she went through it. At least she was thankful that this time she wasn't carrying twins. Her two little girls had put her through the wringer. It took her a month just to have the energy to do anything more than keep up with the twin girls. Of course the two men in her life were a big help. Almost from the moment that they had found out she was with twins, Mousse tried to confine her to bed rest. Little Mea-Tu kept her company once she was too far along to do much of anything. The little daydreaming session was cut short as the bell on the front door of the Nekohanten rang signaling that some one was entering the restaurant. " Nihau…Ryoga?" Shampoo gasped in surprise.

"Hello Shampoo, long time no see, huh?" Ryoga shrugged nonchalantly.

"Come in, sit down." Shampoo waved him in after she had recovered from her shock. "I get you today's special. Is too too good, no?" Shampoo hurried toward the kitchen. After a minute, she came back with a steaming bowl of ramen. She set the bowl down in front of the lost boy and sat opposite of him. She watched him eat for a minute, then asked, "What bring you here after too long time away?" Shampoo was puzzled when she saw Ryoga flinch at the question.

"Actually, I need to get to the Tendo Dojo as quickly as possible." He answered curtly.

"Mousse can take you when done with Ramen. He be happy to do if not for you, then for me." As she got up, Ryoga took notice of her belly.

"Shampoo you're"

"Don't say it, please. Shampoo have it up to here with hidden weapons master jokes." She glared ominously at him. Ryoga slouched in his chair and proceeded to finish off the ramen. As suddenly as the look appeared, it was replaced with a huge grin. Shampoo then walked off to the kitchen. A minute of quiet slurping latter, Mousse walked out of the kitchen. While nothing had changed about Shampoo's waitress uniform except some proportions, Mousse's attire had changed drastically. Gone were the flowing robes, in their place was a cook's apron draped over a tee shirt and slacks. As Mousse approached Ryoga's table, he took the apron off and started to fold it neatly. Laying it on the table, Mousse looked at the lost boy with a sideways grin. "So, the Tendo Dojo, still trying to chase Akane?"

"No, actually, I need to speak with Ranma."

"Ranma, what for?" Mousse asked confused that Ryoga, after disappearing eight years ago, would just suddenly appear and want to see Ranma of all people.

"I need to warn him about something." Ryoga's quick reply told Mousse that he wouldn't get any more information about the situation right now. Shrugging his shoulders, Mousse moved for the door, waving for Ryoga to follow.

Akane was in the kitchen doing the dishes when she heard a knock on the front door. Quickly drying her hands, she made her way to the door. Opening the door, she came face to face with Mousse and Ryoga. Akane gasped when she saw the long lost boy. "Hello Akane, long time no see." Ryoga flashed her a wide grin. "Is Ranma home?"

"No, but your daughter is." Akane said flatly. All the color drained out of Ryoga's face. He started to waver on his feet. Mousse grabbed his arm and leads him into the house. Akane went ahead of them and got a place ready on the couch that had been placed in the living room. Mousse helped Ryoga sit down on the couch. Akane went into the kitchen to get a glass of water for Ryoga. She came back and handed the glass to Ryoga, who immediately gulped it down. After a minute, the color came back to his face. He looked up to Akane sheepishly. "Ryoga, what is going on?" Akane demanded. "First, you two leave to track down that shaman who put that speech hex on you, then Ranma writes a letter saying that he would be gone for about a year. Once he shows back up here, he is quiet and depressed. Now eight years later, first a little girl shows up not only claming to be your daughter, but also has a picture of Ranma in his girl form, nursing a baby. Finally you show up after nine years of absence. I would love to know just what the hell is going on." Akane's voice never got over a tight conversational tone, but Ryoga could see that she was fuming on the inside. He marveled at the constraint she must have learned over the last decade.

Sighing, Ryoga began. "It's a long story, so you had better get-"

"You!" Ranma chose that time to show up at the door. Ryoga flinched, but that went unnoticed as Akane turned and stomped toward Ranma.

"Before you pick a fight with any one, I have some questions for you." Ranma took a step back as Akane got into his face. "First off, how about explaining to me the child up stairs. Then you can finally tell me what went on during that- Hey!" Akane yelled as Ranma stepped past her and grabbed Ryoga off the couch. Hoisting him on to his shoulders, Ranma ran out of the living room, jumped onto the roof, and started roof hopping away. Akane, now furious, started to go after him, but Mousse grabbed her shoulder.

"If you really want to get to the bottom of this, you'll let them discus this first amongst themselves." Akane, the anger draining away as quickly as it had come, slumped down on the couch and buried her face in her hands, tears flowing freely.


	3. Chapter 3

"Uff!" The sound of most of the air rushing out of Ryoga's lungs as Ranma dumped him uncerimonasly on the rooftop they had stopped on. "What was that for?"

"You idiot Ryoga!" Ranma practically screamed.

"What'd I do?" Ryoga replied.

"Oh gee, let me think, ah how about screw up my entire life for starters. You know Ryoga, I actually trusted you."

"Look, I can explain." Ryoga held up his hands in front of him, trying to get Ranma to calm down.

"Oh sure you can." The gesture obviously wasn't working. "Let's see, where should we begin. How about how did she get that photograph, which shouldn't exist any more in the first place, away from you? Second, how did she get my whereabouts? Third how did she get the idea that I'm alive?"

"Ranma, please calm down, just let me explain." Ryoga pleaded. Seeing that Ranma was indeed trying to calm down by closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. After a minute, Ryoga tentatively got up and started to brush himself off, trying to buy some more time for Ranma to cool off.

"I'm waiting." Time was up; Ryoga knew that he'd be dead if he stalled any longer.

"OK, first she got the photo from a box that was suppose to be under lock and key. As for why it wasn't destroyed, Akari wouldn't let me destroy it. She believed that Arianna had the right to someday know the truth about her existence. As for the second and third questions, she befriended ten of Akari's pigs, and they ganged up on me." Ranma gave him a look that told him that he didn't believe a word about Ryoga's second part of the explanation. "OK, during a little sparing match, like the kind you used to have with Akane, she got in a lucky shot below the belt. After that, it was just a matter of her pressing her advantage. What can I say, your daughter knows how to torture someone who has a high threshold for pain. I don't think I'll ever have another child again." Ryoga said as his hands instinctively lowered to his groin.

Ranma, after hearing Ryoga's explanation, slumped down against a wall. "Its all over. My life, my marriage, my family, my manhood."

"Come on Ranma," Ryoga took a seat next to him, "I don't think that Akane will kick you out over Arianna."

"Over Arianna herself, no. But I wasn't truthful with her. Here she has let me in and shared all her secrets with me, but the biggest one in my life, and I blew it."

"She can't be that bad any more, after all, she married you, didn't she."

"I guess we all were crazy back then. I mean I had to have a baby for crying out loud before I could see what I had to lose."

"Oh come on, all you lost was a punching bag. I lost almost every thing that night." Ryoga hung his head.

"Sorry." Ranma said past the lump that was forming in his throat.

"For what, unless you purposely got knocked up by me." Ryoga gave a sideways glance at Ranma, who was staring at Ryoga. "You know, the last time you had that look on your face was when I suggested you might be pregnant."

Ranma shutters. "Kami, after all this time, that thought still creeps me out." Then he let out a snort. "I remember the look on your face when the doctor confirmed it." Ranma started to chuckle. Soon Ryoga joined in.

"Yours too." Now both men were in fits of laughter. "Hey, you remember the look on the nurse's face when you threatened that after you gave birth, that you would turn back into a boy and kick my ass?"

"Not really, I was trying to push a watermelon out an opening the size of a lemon. Damn that hurt." Ranma held his lower stomach, slightly doubling over in remembered pain. "You know, this is defiantly not a conversation that we should have ever been able to have." Ranma said as the laughter started to die down. That quickly sobered the men up.

"Well, now what?" Ryoga asked as the tension started to return.

"Now, I guess we go face the music." Ranma said with a sigh.

"Akane's going to be mad." Ryoga countered, hoping to persuade Ranma to exclude him from the confrontation.

"I know, but I need to sort things out with Akane and you need to get Arianna." Ranma said, knowing that Ryoga was trying to back out of the confrontation. "Akane helped me get back on my feet after I returned home. I at least owe her an explanation." Ranma hung his head.

"Back on your feet, but I thought that you had done that by the time you left us at Akari's."

"I thought I had. You just don't understand what I went through during the pregnancy. I mean at first, I wanted nothing to do with the thing growing inside of me. I thought of it as a parasite, living off me and ruining my life. By the time I gave birth to Arianna, she had worked her way into my heart. It must be a mother's love for her child, because I could see the same thing in Akane while she carried Haru. Granted she didn't think at any time that he was a parasite, but her expressions were the same as mine at the end." Ranma had a little bit of a lost, dreamy look on his face.

"Oh my god, you actually enjoyed being pregnant!" Ryoga looked at him in shock.

"I did not!" Ranma shouted. After taking a few breaths to calm down, he continued. "I never wanted to be pregnant, and if I was able to change it I….would." Ranma had to force the last word of his sentence out of his mouth. Ryoga did not miss that fact.

"You sure about that Ranma?" Ryoga asked in a teasing manner.

"Ok, so not entirely. I mean she is my daughter. I love her as much as I love Haru. I just wish she could have came into my life under different circumstances." Ranma stood up and turned around to lean on the raised edge of the roof. Ryoga stood up and placed his hand on Ranma's shoulder.

"I'm sorry that she found out about you like this."

"Hey, it's not like you intended for this to happen. Now come on, lets go deal with the consequences." Ranma sighed as he headed toward the ladder off the roof.

Akane woke up to the rattle of cups as Mousse set down a couple of cups. "Oh, your up, I hope I didn't wake you. I thought after all that has happened you would like some time to slow down and catch up." Mousse said as he poured her a cup of tea. Akane sat up and gladly accepted. As she took a drink, a gasp from Mousse made Akane look toward the entrance to the room. Arianna was standing in the doorway.

"Sorry I made a mess of every thing." Arianna said quietly with her head hung.

"Oh dear don't worry," Mousse started up casually, "We're used to strange acurances."

"Strange acurances?" Arianna asked.

"What he means is things like unexpected guests."

"Wow, she does look like her mother." Mousse instantly got Arianna's attention with that comment.

"You know my mother?"

"Yes, we all knew your mother." Akane answered before Mousse got a chance.

"Knew?"

"Yes. Your mother left shortly after returning for a trip."

"Left for where?"

"I don't know." Akane answered quickly, hoping that Arianna would accept it. She hung her head as if in defeat. Akane had a major pang of guilt seeing the defeated look on the little girl's face. Then she steeled herself, more determined than ever to have a nice chat with her husband whenever he decided to show his face again. Just as she was thinking that, she heard the front gate open. Moments later, Ranma walked into view of the living room. "About time you showed up. I think its time to have a little talk." Anger surfaced in Akane's face as she looked up at her husband.

Ranma looked Akane square in the eyes. "Yes, I think it is, but first." Ranma stepped into the room reveling Ryoga. Arianna gasped as she saw her father.

"Arianna, I think you have some explaining to do young lady." Ryoga said in a firm fatherly tone.

Arianna found an interesting spot on the table to look at. "Yes father."

"But first, your father needs to talk to Ranma and Akane." His voice slightly wavered. "Mousse, do you mind looking after Arianna for a little bit while we have a long talk."

"I'm sure that can be arranged." Then Mousse looked at Arianna. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my little ones." Mousse held out his hand to Arianna. She looked up at her father for reassurance. He nodded, and she grasped his hand and they started to walk out of the house.

After several minutes to make sure Mousse and Arianna were out of earshot, Akane looked at the two men. "Well, lets hear the story." Akane crossed her arms in front of her.

Ranma sighed as he began. "As you could guess, this all happened during that supposed training trip that we took after defeating Kendo. We ran into problems shortly after that and I ended up spending the night as a girl. Ryoga had some sake, and we both got drunk."

"Big surprise, a Saotome male getting drunk." Akane butted in. Ranma gritted his teeth at the accusation, but chose to ignore it and continue the story.

"Well, the next morning, we woke up completely naked on opposite sides of the room. I didn't think any thing about it until I couldn't change back in the shower. A doctor confirmed it later that I was pregnant. We agreed to tell you that we were taking and extended training trip to hide the pregnancy. During the pregnancy, both Doctor Tofu and Doctor Sota agreed that I should stay with the baby for three months. To this day they still won't tell me why they did that."

"Wait!" Akane interrupted. "Doctor Tofu, Kasumi's husband, was in on this?" Akane asked. Ranma groaned as he nodded his head, realizing that he had just drug another person into this mess. At this point, Ryoga approached Akane.

"This whole mess is partially my fault, I"

"Ryoga, please!" Akane interrupted him. "I really need to talk to Ranma alone right now." Ryoga looked sympathetically at Ranma, who just nodded his head twice before leaving it hanging. Ryoga backed out of the living room and made his way toward the door, feeling like he was living a condemned man alone in front of the firing squad. After Ryoga had left the room, Akane shifted her gaze back to Ranma. "How could you?" she asked him.

"I'm sorry, but we were drunk and"

"I'm not talking about that!" Akane screamed. "I'm talking about the way you never opened up to me about this! Damn it Ranma, were married. Nether one of us should have any secrets of this magnitude from each other."

"Akane, I"

"You what, Ranma. You didn't think this was important enough to tell me. I shared every thing with you, including that fantasy I had about Diasuke. But you couldn't even tell me you had gotten drunk and let Ryoga knock you up."

"It wasn't like that!" Ranma shouted back at her.

"Oh, really? So it was an immaculate conception then?"

"Look, we were both really drunk and don't remember what happened." Ranma tried to protest.

"Oh I think you established that point very well Ranma. Like father like son!"

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"Oh get off the innocent act Ranma. Just like your father you get either drunk or hungry and you start screwing with people's lives just to satisfy the current little itch you have."

"I am nothing like my father!"

"Oh really! You could have fooled me miss party girl."

"Now what is that suppose to mean?"

"I think you know exactly what that means."

"At least I didn't act like a prude and then have fantasies about my fiancée's best friend."

"No Ranma, you just skipped the fantasies and went strait to the act."

"Hey, I only slept with him once."

"What's that suppose to mean."

"Where has P-Chan been for the last eight years?"

"What are you saying?"

"Ryoga is P-Chan. Even though I practically told you every time we saw him, you were ether too ignorant or too infatuated with him to see thru his little ruse." Akane's breath caught in her throat as the meaning of that sentence hit home. For his part, Ranma wished desperately that he could take it back, but the damage was done. Tears started flowing out of Akane's eyes as she buried her head in her hands. Ranma moved to comfort her, but feeling the contact, Akane pulled away.

"Get the hell away from me Ranma." She turned on him. Her head snapped up as she looked him in the eyes with all the venom she could muster. "In fact get the hell out of my house Ranma." As she said that, he started to slowly back up. "NOW!" She shouted. He bolted out of the door. She stood looking at the empty doorway that her husband had just fled thru for a minute, before collapsing on the floor in choking sobs.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm back!" Mousse exclaimed as he entered the Nekohanten. Shampoo exited the kitchen at the sound of her husband's voice. She let out a small gasp at the little redhead who followed him in.

"Airen, who is strange girl?"

"This is Arianna Hibiki, she just got into town today. Ryoga asked me if we could watch her for a bit." Mousse explained.

"Arianna? Most unusual name." Shampoo looked at the little girl. "Did not know Ryoga had daughter. Is she with"

"Shampoo, can I see you in the kitchen dear?" Mousse interrupted Shampoo's out loud thoughts. Mousse, not giving Shampoo any time to argue, pulled her into the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

"What you do that for?" Shampoo asked after she had gotten her bearings back.

"I think there are some things I should tell you about Arianna." Mousse guided her back into a chair. After she was seated, he took a deep breath. "First of all, yes Arianna is Ryoga's daughter, but no she is not Akari's."

"Then who is mother?" Shampoo asked, the look on her face telling Mousse that she was clueless as to the identity of Arianna's mother.

"Ranma is." Shampoo gasped as Mousse reviled the identity.

As the identity of her mother was being reviled to Shampoo in the kitchen, in the dinning room, a slightly younger boy catiously approached Arianna. "Hello." Arianna said as she saw the boy, giving a little bow.

"Hi." The boy said shyly and bowing back.

"I'm Arianna. What's your name?"

"My name is Mea-Tu." The boy said.

"Your name is Arianna also? What kind of parents name a boy Arianna? I thought that my having this name was bad enough."

"No no, is Chinese Amazon Name, is pronounced Mea-Tu." Mea-Tu crossed his arms defiantly at this new girl who had just screwed up his name, just like every one else did to his whole family. Arianna chuckled as she found the pout kind of cute. This only got Mea-Tu even more upset. Realizing that this wasn't the best way to make friends, Arianna decided to apologize.

"Sorry for messing up your name. I guess I can't say much about weird names, considering my name is western, even though I'm Japanese." Arianna chuckled.

"Yes, I was wondering about that. How did you get your name?" Mea-Tu asked

"Well, my mother gave it to me." Arianna said mater-of-factly.

Uyko looked up as the bell on the door rang. "Welcome to Ucchan's. Ranma?"

"Hey Ucchan. How are you?" Ranma asked as he sat down on one of the stools.

"Good, what brings you here" she asked.

"Can't I just see an old friend without a reason?"

"Ah, so you and Akane had another fight."

"No, not just a fight." Ranma sighed. Ukyo sighed as the weight of Ranma's words sunk in.

"What was it about this time?" Ukyo inquired.

"That's a long story."

"Hey, you know me, I have plenty of time." Ukyo said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Well to put a long story short, something from my past came back to haunt me today."

"And the long version?" Ukyo pressed.

"My daughter from that training trip showed up today." Ranma sighed again.

"Ranma!" Ukyo gasped as what he said sunk in. After a minute of silence, she started the conversation again. "Who was she?"

Ranma's head jerked up as what Ukyo was implying hit him. "It wasn't a she, it was with Ryoga." After a minute, Ukyo's face started to scowl.

"Look Ranma, I'm trying to be serious and give an old friend some help, but if all you want to do is make jokes"

"I'm not joking." Ranma looked Ukyo square in the eyes to show that he was in fact serious. As what he said hit her, she slumped onto a stool at the grill.

"Oh Ranma." Uyko sighed and shook her head.

"I know, I know." Ranma sighed. After a second, he looked up at her. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well, first off, you should probably give her some time to cool off. Knowing Akane, you would only anger her more if you approached her at this time. In the meantime, why don't you get to know your daughter? There's a festival in town tomorrow, It would be a great time for you two to get to know one another."

"Ukyo, I can't let her know that I'm her mother. She's only eight, I don't think her mind could handle that." Uyko nodded in agreement. After a second of thinking, she snapped her fingers.

"How about you tell her that you're her uncle. That way she still sees you as family."

Ranma shot up and hugged Uyko. "Thanks Ucchan, you're the best." Ranma said as he ran out the door. Uyko slumped back down on the stool with a light smile on her face.

"Oh Ranma, every time I think I'm over you, you have to do something to fan the flames." She sighed. She didn't have long to ponder the embrace, for the evening rush started to come through the door.

As Uyko started tending to her restarant, Ranma headed over toward the other famous restaurant in the Nerima district. As he approached the Nekohantan, he slowed down and started rehearsing how he was going to introduce himself to his daughter that wouldn't cause her to go running out into the night screaming about demon laundry. He didn't know why he had thought about that, Happosi chased off that laundry marshal artist a long time ago. Idly, he wondered if that guy was still in the mental institution. Shaking the stray thoughts from his head, he took a deep breath and entered the back door of the Nekohanten.

Shampoo was the first to look up at the person walking thru the door. "Nihau Ranma. Glad you finally here. Many questions have no answers."

"I will try to explain it all, but first where is Arianna?"

"Right here." All heads turned to the door to the dinning room. Arianna stood there with her arms crossed, looking perturbed. Ranma approached her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hello, Arianna, My name is Ranma, I'm your uncle." Arianna looked at Ranma a minute, trying to see if he flinched. After a minute, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

"You look so much like my mother." Arianna said after a few moments.

"I was her twin brother." Ranma shocked him self at how quickly he came up with the story, but he was carful not to let it show. After another moment, Arianna pulled back from the hug and looked her 'uncle' in the face.

"Where is she?" Arianna asked. Every one in the room flinched.

"Well," Ranma began, "I think we should sit down, this maybe a long story." Ranma escorted the young girl back out to the dinning room, towards a booth in the corner. Ranma stopped about half way to the booth and looked over his shoulder. Both Mousse and Shampoo, who were following them to the booth, immediately found somewhere else to be. As Ranma and Arianna sat down in the booth, Ranma sighed and started his story.

"Arianna, your mother was kind of a hell raiser. She never backed down from a challenge, always eager to prove she was the best. We were so alike in that regard. But where as I had a hard time talking to and showing my feelings for any girl I liked, she would openly flirt with all the boys, usually to get some thing she wanted." Ranma sat back at that point. Arianna thought he was reminiscing, but Ranma was really trying to figure out how to continue his story. Finally, an idea hit him, and he continued. "She followed your father up to a small village in the north. Your father was going to get revenge for me, because a really bad fighter had purposely broking my arm. Your mother, on the other hand, thought that she should be the one to get revenge. I never knew what happened, but a year later, she came back with a vacant look in her eyes. A few days after she came home, she immediately packed her bags and joined one of those relief organizations. A year and a half later, we got a letter from them saying that she had disappeared some where in Africa. We never heard from her again." As Ranma finished, he noticed that Arianna had tears in her eyes. "Arianna?"

"Its not fair." Arianna choked out. "All my life, I dreamed that my mother was out there, and that one day she would come back and we could be a family," At this, she looked Ranma right in the eyes, "now I have lost her twice." Arianna put her head in her hands, sobs wracking her body. Ranma's heart shattered into a million peaces. He so desperately wanted to tell her the truth, his heart screaming for him to do so. However, his mind, which had been trained over the years to rationalize any situation, told him to keep his emotions in check, that telling her now that he was her mother would do much damage to her young mind. So he did the only thing that he thought he could do. He got out of the booth, pulled up a chair, and gathered her up onto his lap and comforted her like an uncle would. Slowly, her sobs started to quiet down, and after a few moments, stopped altogether. As Ranma held her, Ukyo's idea popped into his head.

"Hey, I know that I'm not your mother, but there is a festival in town tomorrow and I would like to take you, if you would like that."

"What about Aunt Akane?" Arianna asked without moving her head off of where it rested on his chest.

"She'll be OK, besides, she needs some time to cool off. so whadda say?" Arianna, not wanting to break contact with the only link she thought she had with her mother, just nodded her head. "Alright it's settled then, tomorrow we go to the festival, just an uncle and his niece."


	5. Chapter 5

As dawn broke on Nerima, Akane's eyes fluttered open. After a moment, she realized that Ranma wasn't in bed. This wasn't rare since he usually got up before she did to do his morning katas before she got up, and before little Haru became his shadow. She got up and put on a robe, heading down the stairs toward the kitchen. When she reached the kitchen, finding that no one was in there, the events of the previous day flooded back to her. She slumped against the wall, sliding down to the floor, before her body shook with sobs. "Oh Ranma." She managed to choke out after a few minutes.

Meanwhile, in another part of Nerima, Ranma stretched as he got out of bed. His back was stiff from the combination of the different bed than he was used to, and that he had tossed and turned because of the nightmares he was having about Akane never taking him back. After he washed up and got dressed, Ranma headed down the stairs and into the main part of the Nekohanten where Arianna was already waiting for him. Ranma chuckled as he saw her. "What are you doing up this early?" He asked.

"I'm always up this early." She replied.

"You know the festival doesn't start until noon." Ranma asked rhetorically.

"I know." Arianna answered any way.

"So, being that we're both up, do you want to go for a run?"

"Sure." And with that, Ranma and Arianna headed out the door for a quick run.

As the two ran, Ranma stared down at the young girl running next to him. He had to admit that for her age, she was keeping up with him fairly easily. As Ranma started to swell with pride, Arianna happened to look up at him. "What?" She asked him.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how much you remind me of your mother." At his comment, Ranma noticed that Arianna got a twinge of sadness in her eyes. "Hey, lets not dwell on things we can't change, OK. Besides, we've got a festival to get ready for." At that, Arianna's face lit up.

"Race ya back to the restaurant." She looked up at him.

"You're on and you're going down."

"I don't, hey isn't that Akane?"

"Where?" Ranma asked, but all he got for an answer was Arianna's laughter and footsteps as she ran off at full speed. "Hey, no fair!" Ranma took off on a dead sprint to catch up with the little trickster.

While that little scene was playing out, Akane had gotten dressed and headed over to her brother-in-law's clinic. As she entered the lobby, she took her shoes off and put on the slippers that had been left for her. After that, she entered the clinic. "Doctor Tofu, are you in?" She called. After a moment, he came out from his office into the lobby.

"Akane, what a pleasant surprise."

"You might not think that after I tell you why I came here." With a puzzled look on his face, Doctor Tofu motioned for her to join her in his office.

As they got settled, Doctor Tofu asked, "So, what brings you here today?"

"I came here to ask you what you know about Ranma and Ryoga's training trip they took after the fight with Kendo." Akane looked the doctor strait in the eyes. Seeing the panic start to build in his eyes, she decided to let him know what she knew. "I met a very interesting little girl yesterday, goes by the name of Arianna Habiki." As she said the name, the doctor's eyes got as large as saucers. Finally after the shock wore off, he slumped in his chair with his head down.

"I am deeply sorry about keeping this from you for so long."

"That's it?" Akane asked after a minute. "No excuses, no pleading that it was Ranma's idea?"

"No. It was his wish that he be the one to tell you, but it's still my fault for letting him procrastinate for so long. I should have pressured him into telling you after a few months, but it seamed that he was healing so well that I didn't want to jeopardize his progress by forcing him to tell you too soon. If any thing, I am the one to fault for you finding out this way, and for that I ask you for your forgiveness, if it can ever be given." Akane sat stunned. She had expected to have to argue back and forth with him about his involvement in it at all until ether he would finally admit to it, or she would storm out of his office and not speak to the doctor again unless it was an emergency for years to come. The simple fact that he not only confessed, but also apologized shocked her into silence.

"Why?" was all she could vocalize after the shock wore off a little.

He brought his head up to look her in the eyes. "At first, because not only was it what Ranma wanted, my college and I felt it was the right thing to do to let him heal some before he incurred your wrath about what had happened to him."

"My wrath?" Akane asked with disbelief heavy in her voice. A little bit of anger started to pull at the edge of her expression.

"I hate to say it Akane, but back then you were a bit of a hot head. You would jump to your own conclusions about situations, especially if Ranma was involved." Despite the anger now clearly present on Akane's face, the doctor continued. "But over the years since that trip, in helping Ranma build himself back up, you also mellowed out and became the strong but understanding woman that you are today. It was a win win situation, but unfortunately with an as of right now bleak ending."

"As of right now?" Akane interrupted.

"Well, going by what I know of you two, I'm guessing that you and Ranma had a fight about this, during which both of you said some things that you both wish you could take back, and he spent the night on the couch." At this, Akane bowed her head.

"Not on the couch, I kicked him out of the house after he told me that Ryoga was P-Chan." Tofu winced as Akane told him about the end of the fight. Seeing him wince, Akane closed her eyes. "Tell me Doctor, is there any chance of us getting past this?"

"Actually yes." Akane's eyes lit up as doctor Tofu told her his answer. "I think there is a very good chance of it, especially with as much as you still care for him. It will be a long road to recovery for your relationship, but in the end I think you can do it."

Akane shook her head. "How did you learn so much about relationship counseling?" She asked.

"Actually, every one close to you two should have a masters in psychology trying to help you two get together, it's a miracle that any of us didn't have a breakdown over it." Doctor Tofu chuckled, Akane just rolled her eyes.

"Hey, we're back!" Ranma called out as he and Arianna entered the restaurant. Shampoo came out of the kitchen to greet them.

"Nihau, enjoy your run?" she asked.

"Yes, until some one cheated." Ranma said as he looked down at Arianna with a sideways smile.

"What cheating, I really thought I saw her." Arianna said as if it was the truest statement in the world.

"Whatever. Why don't you go and take your bath and get dressed so we can get going."

"OK." Arianna replied as she sprinted up the stairs to the living quarters. Shampoo chuckled.

"So much like her parents."

"Whadda mean?" Ranma asked.

"She uses any trick in book to get what she wants, maybe she find way to find her mother." Shampoo said as she looked Ranma square in the eyes.

"Look, if you're worried that I'll get splashed, don't be 'cause I'll be extra careful." Ranma crossed his arms in front of his chest as he said that. In the kitchen, Mousse suddenly sneezed.

"Bless you." Both Ranma and Shampoo called out.

"Thank you." Mousse called back

"Hey, here's an idea, why don't you and Mousse close down the café and come with me and Arianna to the festival. That way, you can watch over me so I don't get splashed."

"Great, just what I need, another child to watch over."

"No, no not Arianna, just watch my HEY!"

"Sorry, but this festival bring in large crowd, huge day for restaurant, can't be closed during it, but maybe Ryoga go, if you ask him."

"Hey, yea that is a good idea, now if only I knew where he was."

"Try right behind you." Ranma spun around to come face to face with Ryoga.

"Man, do you have to scare the heck out of me?" Ranma growled.

"Yes, because it's fun and really easy." Ryoga laughed

"Why you."

"Hey Mousse, look at them, just like old times." Shampoo sighed. After she said that, an uneasy silence hung in the air around the two martial artists. Just before the silence became too unbearable, Mea-Tu came stomping down the stairs. Shampoo looked at his face and knew that something had upset her eldest child.

"What wrong, Mea-Tu?" She asked.

"That girl just pushed me out of the way as I was about to go to the bathroom." Mea-Tu crossed his arms to look annoyed, but his fidgeting lags told another story.

"Just use bathroom in back of restaurant for now." Shampoo told him. As he left to find said bathroom, a thought crossed Shampoo's mind. "Ryoga, if you go to festival, would you do me favor?"

"What's that?"

"Take Mea-Tu with you. He worked so hard last few days, deserves day off."

"I will, but won't you need him to help out in the restaurant today?" Ryoga asked.

"No worry, Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung showed up this morning from Amazon village, must help out in restaurant as punishment for attacking another poor man who happened to knock down Amazon girl." At the mention of the two girls, Ranma and Ryoga got looks of pure fright. Shampoo giggled at this. "No worries, they know about me and Mousse."

Both men breathed a sigh of relief when a chorused "Nihau" caused them to jump and spin around. Behind them stood two stunningly beautiful Chinese girls.

"You remember Ling-Ling," The one with maroon hair bowed to them, "and Lung-Lung." The aqua haired one bowed. They were dressed in the same type of outfit that they had worn when they were younger.

"Wow, you two have really grown up." Ranma commented.

"Why thank you." Lung-Lung said as the two girls stood up strait. Just then, Mea-Tu walked back into the room.

"Aunt Ling-Ling, aunt Lung-Lung, that means"

"Nihau!" Some one said from behind Mea-Tu as two arms encircled him. The arms were connected to a young Chinese girl, about Mea-Tu's age, with blue hair. She wore the same clothes that her older sisters wore. She currently had Mea-Tu in a bear hug from behind, rubbing her cheek up against the side of his arm, just like Shampoo used to do with Ranma whenever she caught him when they were younger.

"Come on, cut that out!" Mea-Tu shouted as he tried to get away from the arms.

"When she find out we're going to Nerima, Ring-Ring begged to come with. No know why." Ling-Ling said in a thoughtful tone, but with the way Ring-Ring was snuggling with Mea-Tu, it was obvious to every one else but the twins. What was equally obvious was the fact the Mea-Tu did not like the attention. Just then, Arianna came down the stairs

"Okay, the bathroom is all" she let her sentence stop as she saw the embrace that Ring-Ring was giving to Mea-Tu. "Oh please you two, get a room." She rolled her eyes.

"Is good idea, then we can talk and get to know each other better, since we engaged." Ring-Ring said, not once loosing her hold on the boy.

"You're what?"

"We're what?" Both Arianna and Mea-Tu said at the same time.

"Hiya, remember, last year, you beat me in fight, remember?" Ring-Ring reminded him.

"Ring-Ring, I bump into you accidentally, while you practice with Sho-le."

"Hiya, it end fight, so you beat me, which mean now you my husband, is Amazon law." Ring-Ring reminded him, still not letting go of him. Mea-Tu looked at Arianna with pleading eyes, but upon meeting his gaze, she huffed and turned her head away quickly. Next, he tried his mother, but she was still giggling at the scene. Then his gaze fell onto Ranma, who having been there himself, took pity on the boy.

"Hey Mea-Tu, how would you like to go to the festival with Arianna, Ryoga and me?" At the offer, Mea-Tu's eyes lit up.

"I would love to come too." Finally, he broke out of the embrace and ran to Ranma, hugging him in a silent thank you. Then, as quickly as his hopes rose, they fell again. "But needed here at restaurant."

"Is Okay, have plenty of help with Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung here, so you can go." Once again, Mea-Tu's face lit up as he ran over and hugged his mother.

"Thank you, mother."

"Can I go too?" Mea-Tu cringed as he heard Ring-Ring ask to go to the festival with them.

"Is dangerous to be in public place alone." Lung-Lung said, Ring-Ring's face fell and Mea-Tu's rose with hope.

"But with Ranma and Ryoga is okay." Ling-Ling finished the thought as Ring-Ring's face lit up with joy, and Mea-Tu's fell into despair. Witnessing this, Arianna rolled her eyes, sighed and hung her head.

"I have a feeling that this is going to be a very long day for me." She moaned.


	6. Chapter 6

After every one got ready, Arianna practically dragged them all out of the Nekohauten. Every one thought that she was just really excited to get to the festival, but Arianna just wanted to get going before their little group swelled any more. As they walked, Ranma and Arianna took the lead, Mea-Tu, with Ring-Ring attached to his arm almost cutting off the flow of blood walked just behind them. Ryoga took up the rear, but was careful to watch where he was going. The curse may not have been so bad now, but he still didn't want to take any chances. Every so often, Arianna would glance back to make sure her father was still with the group. Every time she did, Ring-Ring would make a point to rub up against Mea-Tu. Every time that she did, Arianna would just roll her eyes. After the fifth time that happened, when she turned back around, she had to rub her eyes because they hurt from all the rolling she had done. Ranma looked down at her and chuckled. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"You've got to relax, I'm sure he won't get lost." Arianna let out a sigh. Ranma, never one not to let things go if he caught on to it, decided to get a jab in. "And don't worry, I'm sure you'll get your shot with Mea-Tu."

"Wha?" Arianna looked up at Ranma with a questioning look.

"Come on, you don't think that I didn't notice the looks you're giving Mea-Tu and Ring-Ring."

"What looks, I just wanted to make sure that my dad was still with us." Arianna said quickly.

"Sure, whatever you say." Ranma, in a show of rare restraint, let that part of their conversation drop. "So, what was it like to grow up on a farm?"

"Not very much fun. There are a lot of chores to do every day, you're kind of separated from most every one else. But there are some good points."

"Oh yea, like what?"

"Well, once the chores are done, if you want to relax, all you have to do is find a spot in one of the fields and spread out a blanket. Then you can cloud watch, or lay there and think, or if your really tired, just take a nap."

"Sounds very peaceful." Ranma commented.

"Yeah, it is. Although it can get boring day after day." Arianna sighed. "Some days I wish we lived in the city so I had some friends to hang out with."

"You don't have any friends?" Ranma asked, concerned about her.

"Yes, I do have friends, but the only times I get to see them is in school, or the rare times that we go into town. So we're not the closest of friends."

"Sorry to hear that." Guilt suddenly clenched at Ranma's heart. Silence fell over the group, except for Mea-Tu's groan every time Ring-Ring rubbed up against him.

Meanwhile, at Tofu's clinic, the door opened to allow two young boys enter the clinic, one appeared to be about five, the other three. Kasumi, who appears to be in her late twenties, followed them. "We're back." Kasumi called out. Tofu walked out of his office and looked at his wife as she got hers and the little boy's shoes off. Tofu's gaze fell onto the boy, and his expression fell.

"I hope for your sake, they work it out." He whispered.

"What was that?" Kasumi looked up at her husband.

"Oh, nothing. Say your sister was here while you were out."

"Oh, why didn't she wait until we returned?"

"She said that something had come up and asked if we could keep Haru until it was cleared up."

"Oh my, I hope its nothing too serious!"

"Oh, I'm sure that its nothing they can't fix themselves." Tofu said as he embraced his wife.

"Alright, does every one know the plan?" Ranma asked as they approached the festival grounds. After every one nodded their head, they proceeded to split into two groups, Ranma and Arianna in one, and Ryoga, Mea-Tu and Ring-Ring the other. As they started to separate, Mea-Tu gave Arianna a pleading look, but Ring-Ring used that opportunity to snuggle up to him. Seeing that, Arianna humphed and turned around to walk away with her Uncle.

Ranma and Arianna walked in silence for a few minutes, until Ranma decided to break the ice and get to know his 'niece'. "So, what has your dad taught you about the art."

"Every thing I know." Arianna replied. Ranma sighed, leave it to Ryoga's daughter to keep her answers as short as possible.

"Like what different styles?" Ranma prompted her along.

"Well, he said his wasn't so much a style, but a collection of all the different techniques he had been taught. But he did try to teach me all that he could remember of the anything-goes style, if you can call it a style."

"Hey, I'll have you know that is the style that I practice." Ranma said in an annoyed way.

"Dad said it was also the style that my mother practiced." Arianna said quietly. Ranma all most broke down right there and told her that he was her mother, not wanting to see her heart break any more. He took a deep breath the steel his nerves as Arianna continued. "He has also showed me some of the things the Amazons have taught him, like the breaking-point technique. Not sure how that can be handy in a fight, unless you want to shower your opponents with chunks of rocks, provided you could withstand the shower yourself."

"He actually taught you that?" Ranma started to get angry thinking that Ryoga was foolish enough to teach his daughter a technique that could kill her at her young age.

"No, he showed it to me. I was a safe distance away with Aunt Akari so I didn't get hit with rock chunks. My dad may be dim some times, but he isn't totally clueless." Arianna huffed at her uncle thinking that her dad was that careless.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to accuse him of training you a technique that could get you seriously hurt." Ranma apologized. 'Or even killed.' He added in his head. "It's just that I've had experience with a master who taught dangerous techniques to someone who was really to young to be put through the type of training needed to learn the technique."

"You mean like grandpa did with you and the Neko-ken training." Ranma face faulted as he heard Arianna's declaration that she knew about the cat fist training. "Yea, dad told me about it when I got excited about possibly learning the breaking point technique."

"Ok, so what else has your dad told you about me, and your mother."

"Well, he's told me a lot about you. How you would take the last of the bread from him at lunch time in junior high, how you ran away from his challenge." Arianna looked up to see Ranma frown. "Although I don't blame you. Like I tell dad every time he brings that up, I would have left after two days. Ranma chuckled as he thought about what Ryoga's reaction would have been when his daughter first told him that. "The funny thing is that sometimes, it would seem that he would confuse you with my mother. He would be talking about you, then suddenly he would switch and start talking about my mother." Ranma tensed up as he started to think of a way out of the situation that he thought was coming. "Now after seeing how much you look like my mother, I just chalk it up to him getting you confused because you're twins." She looked up at him with a small chuckle. "You and mom must have been a pair of hell raisers."

Ranma snorted at the comment. "Watch your language young lady, but actually it was more like trouble found us." Just then, they came across the gaming row. "Well, which game do you want to try first?"

"How about the shooting game."

"OK, lets go." Ranma motioned for Arianna to lead the way.

While Ranma was getting to know his daughter better, Ryoga was miserable. After the group split up, Ring-Ring literally drug Mea-Tu to the rides. Mainly, the slow rides where she could snuggle up to him. Mea-Tu wasn't without a plan. Every time they got on a ride, Mea-Tu would work it so Ryoga was in the middle. The easiest ride to work that way was the Farris wheel. As Ring-Ring sat down in the seat, Mea-Tu shoved Ryoga into the seat next to her, positioning himself on the other side of Ryoga, closing the safety bar before Ring-Ring could switch positions. The Merry-go-round was a little harder, but he pulled it off by letting her seat him in a stationary seat with Ryoga taking up a horse behind them. Then just before the ride started up, he flipped himself onto a horse. By the time that Ring-Ring noticed his departure, the ride had started.

As they got off the ride, Ring-Ring turned to confront Mea-Tu "Ring-Ring get feeling that Arien not want to be with Ring-Ring." Mea-Tu was mentally cheering loudly at her comments. "Ring-Ring know that Arien just not want to cause scene in public place. Is Ok, Ring-Ring just hold Arien's hand from now on." Mea-Tu groaned as he reluctantly took the Amazon girl's hand, resigning himself to the small victory of allowing his arm to get its proper blood flow.

Ranma had to admit, he was having fun with his niece. All his problems seamed to disappear for a while as he watched and played the games with Arianna. Even though they were all rigged to prevent some one from winning, any time that she asked Ranma was able to win the prize that she wanted. So by the time they came to the end of the row, Ranma had his arms full of prizes that they had won. "One last game, please." Arianna begged.

"Alright. Just one last game and then we should take your loot back to the Nekohauten." Arianna stepped up to the booth.

"One please." She handed the booth keeper the correct amount to play the game.

"Here you go kid." He handed her a paper net. Arianna kneeled by the tank of the fishing game that they were at. Arianna plopped the net at a fish, but the net disintegrated as soon as it touched the water. She tried twice more before giving up with a sigh.

Ranma looked at the booth keeper. "Hey, do you still have the offer that if you catch them all there free?" He asked.

"Sure." The keeper shrugged.

"Here Arianna, hold these." Ranma handed the bundle of prizes to Arianna and paid the keeper for a new net. "Did your dad ever tell you about the chestnuts roasting on an open fire technique?" Arianna nodded her head yes. "Good because you're about to see it live." Ranma got into position. He took a deep breath to get his body ready for the technique. Then in a blur of action, he started. Fish and water went flying everywhere as Ranma quickly knocked all the fish out of the tank and into bowls used to collect any fish removed from the tank. After a few minutes, all the fish that were in the tank now swam in the bowls by Ranma's sides. Ranma laughed as murmurs went up from the crowd. Ranma was lost in the exhilaration of the moment when the clatter of objects hitting the ground broke him out of it.

Turning around, the first thing he noticed was the prizes that he and Arianna had worked so hard over the afternoon to collect now lay on the ground in a heap. Ranma looked up to Arianna's face to see why she had dropped the prizes. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Her eyes looked like they would pop out of her head any moment and her mouth hung open in a silent gasp. "Arianna, what's the matter?" Ranma asked. As he did, he noticed his voice was a lot higher. His hands flew to his chest hoping to find it still flat. Unfortunately, his hands came into contact with two mounds trying to bust out of his shirt.

Cursing himself for forgetting about his curse, Ranma slowly got to his feet. He took a step towards Arianna. "Arianna, I can explain." Ranma pleaded with her not to panic.

"You…your…I…" Arianna stuttered as she took a step back with each step forward Ranma took "Mother?" Arianna asked quietly. As Ranma stepped forward to try to comfort her, she took of on a dead sprint away from every one, her flight instinct blindly leading her away from the situation that she couldn't yet comprehend.

"Arianna, wait!" Ranma shouted as he started to give chase. Unfortunately he tripped over the prizes left on the ground. He quickly got back up to continue after her, but by then she was out of sight. "Arianna!" He yelled as he blindly ran off after her.


	7. Chapter 7

"Arianna!" Ranma yelled as she ran franticly through the crowds. Her eyes darted back and forth scanning the crowds as she barreled through. Suddenly, she slammed into something that felt like a wall, causing her to fall backwards.

"Hey, watch where you're go—Ranma!" Ryoga gasped as he recognized who had slammed into him. The shock of seeing Ranma in her female form momentarily stopped all his thought processes. Already well into panic mode, Ranma shot up off the ground, and grabbed the collar of Ryoga's shirt.

"Have you seen her?" Ranma's actions restarted Ryoga's brain.

"Seen who?" Ryoga asked as his brain started to process the information his senses were giving it. Suddenly, before Ranma could answer, his brain finally kicked into high gear and put two and two together, "Where's Arianna?" and got eleven.

"Arianna'sgoneshewashavingsuchafuntimeuntillshegottothefishgameand"

"Ranma, slow down." Ryoga put his hands on her shoulders to get her to calm down a bit, or at least slow her speech down to a thousand words a minute.

Ranma, still in panic mode, took a deep breath and started again, all the while getting more frustrated that she had to waste time trying to explain the situation to Ryoga. "Arianna's gone. We were having fun until she got to the fish game. She wanted a fish and I knew that I could get her one with my chestnuts roasting technique." at this point, despite her frustration, Ranma hung her head. "I totally forgot about my curse." Then her head snapped up so she could look him in the eyes. "We have to find her!" with that, Ranma broke out of his grasp and continued to sprint down the street shouting Arianna's name.

After Ranma ran off, Ryoga looked at his two companions. They both looked like they were about to run off and join the search themselves, Mea-Tu more so than Ring-Ring. Before they could, Ryoga held up his hands. "Just hold on you two. We need a plan. Its bad enough that Ranma is out there tearing up the district looking for Arianna, but we don't need all of us doing the same." Ring-Ring gave him a disappointed look and slightly hung her head, but Mea-Tu glared at him, as if to challenge him to come up with a plan quickly. "First off, let's get back to the Nekohauten, then the adults can come up with a search plan." Ryoga emphasized the word adults to get the message across to Mea-Tu. With a disgruntled sigh, Mea-Tu grabbed both Ring-Ring's and Ryoga's hands and started to practically drag them towards his family's restaurant.

Sasuke pushed a button on his consol and the monitors all lit up, showing him different views of the Kuno estate. He sighed as he looked upon the monitors, wishing for the days again when he and his fellow ninja staff mates used to prowl the grounds using their stealth. That was before the young masters had graduated and left for America. Since the only one on the estate was the master, he, in a temporary moment of sanity, dismissed all the servants but he, and had the surveillance system installed. Since then, the place had been too quiet for his tastes. He wanted to quit, but was simply too afraid of the master to turn in his resignation.

Sighing once again he glanced at the monitors one more time, but this time, something caught his eye. Before he could look at it to identify it, it had disappeared. Just as he was about to relax, the wall came crashing down. As the dust settled, Ranma grabbed Sasuke buy the collar and hoisted him to his face. "Have you seen a little girl with red hair around here?" She asked him.

Sasuke was scared out of his wits. He hadn't had to face Ranma's furry since he had returned from that yearlong training trip all those years ago. Struck speechless by fear, he shook his head no. Moaning in frustration, Ranma unceremoniously dropped the small ninja to the ground and exited from the hole she had created. Sasuke took several deep breaths to calm down, then looked at the ground underneath him. "My lord, have I let myself go." As he got up, Sasuke vowed to get back to where he once was, where he could face the full furry of Ranma Saotome and not piss his pants.

In another part of Nerima, Ryoga, Mea-Tu and Ring-Ring stormed thru the door of the Nekohauten. Both Shampoo and Mousse, who had been in the dinning room serving customers, jerked their heads up towards the trio as they entered the restaurant. Ryoga and Ring-Ring collapsed into the nearest booth, while Mea-Tu continued on until he got to his parents. "Mother, father, we need your help. Arianna's missing." he said in a calm manor that hid his true emotions, just like a true Amazon should in a crisis.

Shampoo, looking for clarification, looked up at Ryoga. "Arianna found her mother." Ryoga sighed.

"Where's Ranma?" Mousse asked.

"By now she probably has a quarter of Nerima torn apart looking for her."

After a moment of silence as the situation sunk in, Mousse walked over to his son. "Son, you and Ring-Ring stay here and help your mother with the restaurant. Ryoga and I will go look for Arianna." Just after he said this, a pan hit him over the head.

"Shampoo is looking for Arianna too." Shampoo said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Mousse just held up his hands in defeat. "Very well, I'm not going to argue with you. Especially after you almost filleted me the last time." As the adults sat down to come up with a plan, Mea-Tu softly moaned as he went into the kitchen to help Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung with serving the customers who hadn't left after the frying pan incident.

While that was going on, in another part of Nerima, Nabiki and David where relaxing in front of the television enjoying a nice glass of grape juice, David was the kind of man who swore off alcohol as long as his wife had to. They were watching Titanic, in English. About a minute before the drawing scene was about to come on, the only redeeming part of the movie in David's opinion, Ranma busted thru the door. "Have either of you seen Arianna?"

"No." Nabiki and David said in unison after looking at each other. Before either could question Ranma further, she disappeared as quickly as she had appeared. Nabiki and David looked at each other for a minute until David stood up. "I'll go make some phone calls and see what's going on."

Nabiki turned her attention back to the TV just as the infamous scene started. "Nice timing Ranma, thanks for getting David out of the room before that Winslet bimbo shows her rack."

"Here's your order." Uyko said with a smile as she placed the plate with the freshly prepared Okonomiyaki. As she turned to return to behind the counter, the curtain over the entrance was suddenly ripped off to the side. Before she could get angry about it, Ranma had her hands on Ukyo's shoulders.

"Have you seen her?" Ranma asked in a still panicked voice.

"Seen who?"

"Arianna, have you seen Arianna?" Ranma stared straight into Ukyo's face, but panic had turned her gaze into an almost feral state. Slowly, Ukyo shook her head no. Ranma growled as he let go of her shoulders and ran back out of the door. Ukyo, her legs losing there strength, collapsed on a nearby chair.

For the first time in her life, Ukyo was afraid of Ranma. She was truly terrified at what she might do if something happened to Arianna. Ukyo had only seen that look once before, in the eyes of a mother from her hometown whom had lost her child and was franticly looking for him. Any doubt about the truth of Ranma's story yesterday had been crushed out by what she had just saw in her eyes.

As Ukyo became aware of her surrounding once again, she looked around at a now completely deserted dinning room. "Thanks Ranma." Ukyo sighed as she started to clean the tables.

"I hope your not closing for the night." Ukyo turned around to greet the voice, and was struck speechless. In the doorway to her restaurant, stood the most handsome man in her opinion that had ever entered her restaurant.

"No, not at all, please come in. What can I get for you?"

"I would like one with all your different types of seafood please." The man said.

"Coming right up." Ukyo said as she started the mix the ingrediance together. As she was mixing, she decided to start some small talk. "So, how did you find my little shop?"

"Actually, it was recommended by a friend, Doctor Tofu Ono."

"So, it's settled then. I will head out and search the rooftop, Ryoga will call Ukyo and explain the situation to her, and Shampoo will call everyone we know to see if they have seen—" as Mousse was going over the plan, Ranma flung the door open. Every one stared at her in shock.

"Damn." Ranma swore as she bolted back out the door.

"Ranma wait!" Mousse called as he got up and ran to the door. But as he got there, Ranma had already disappeared. "I'm going now to see if I can catch up with him." Mousse said before he too bolted out the door.

Shampoo sighed, "I guess nothing left to do but make our calls." She said as she picked up the phone and started to dial.

At the Tendo-Saotome Dojo, Akane had just sat down to a small take out meal when the phone rang. "Hello?" She said into the receiver. "Oh hi Shampoo. What!" Her eyes became as large as saucers. She then closed them and put her hand to her forehead. "That baka. Yes I'll keep an eye out for them. Thank you Shampoo. Good Bye." Akane hung up the receiver and walked back to her meal when a noise in the hall got her attention. "Who's there?" She called.

Arianna stepped into the light. "I'm sorry Mrs. Saotome, but I didn't know where else I could go." She said with tears still in her eyes.

"Oh, sweetie." Akane moved over to her and ushered her to the table. After Arianna was seated, Akane moved back to her seat. She poured the young girl some tea. Arianna accepted the beverage with shaky hands. After a small sip, she put the cup down on the table with visibly less shaky hands.

"Thank you." Silence hung in the air for what seemed like a year for the two. Akane tried to think of some way to break the ice. Arianna beat her to it. "It's just not fair." she said.

"What's that?" Akane asked in her most motherly voice.

"All my life since I could remember, I dreamed of finding my mother and she and my father could reconcile enough that she could be a part of my life. Now it turns out that I'm the ultimate freak of nature."

"Arianna, you are not a freak." Akane quickly shot back.

"Then what else am I? My father can't find the end of a straight street, and has an affinity for guys who can change into girls. My mother isn't even a woman, but cursed to change into a girl with a simple splash of water."

"Arianna, you're a very special girl." Akane replied.

"You got the special part right. So, when does my curse come into play?"

"I don't think it works that way."

"So how does it work then?"

"I don't know. I don't even know that those who keep the valley know its secrets." At this point, Arianna had but her head down on the table. Akane reached over and lifted her chin to look her in the eye. "But what I do know is that it does not mater what you are on the outside, but what's inside that counts. Your dad, Ranma, Mousse, and Shampoo are who they are. It doesn't matter what they look like on the outside, they are the same person on the inside."

Arianna looked at Akane confused, "So what does that mean for me?" She asked.

"What that means for you is that you will always be who you are, no matter what you look like or where you come from." Akane sat back and watched as what she said sunk into the young girl sitting next to her. 'I just hope she isn't as thick skulled as her parents are.' She thought.

Suddenly, Arianna's face brightened up a little. "Thank you Mrs. Saotome, I feel better now."

"Your welcome sweetie, and please call me Aunt Akane." Akane said with a smile.

" Only if you don't call me sweetie again, OK?"

"Deal." Akane's smile brightened, and so did the one forming on Arianna's face. "Would you like some more tea?" She asked.

"Yes please, Aunt Akane." Arianna held out her cup so Akane could fill it. As she filled her own cup again, a thump sounded on the roof. "What was that?"

"That would be my husband, your mother, seeking out his favorite thinking spot." Akane shook her head. "He's going to be up there awhile, the baka. I have some cookies in the kitchen, would you like some?"

"Sure." Arianna answered without taking her eyes off of the spot where the noise had come from. Akane got up and disappeared into the kitchen. When she came back out, Arianna had disappeared. Akane looked up to the ceiling with a smile on her face.

Ranma sat on the roof. She was trying to think of another place where Arianna could have gone to, when movement off to her left caught her attention. When she realized it was Arianna, she felt like rushing up and hugging her to death, but when she saw the expression on the girls face, her mood came crashing back down to earth. "Hey." She finally said.

"Hey." Arianna answered as she took a seat next to Ranma. "So, what now?"

"Pardon?"

"So what will happen to us now?" Arianna asked.

"Wait, you mean you still want me in your life?"

"Yes I do. You may not be what I expected when I started to search for my mother, but you are still my mother. I'm not going to shun you just because you have a Jusenkyo curse."

"So, it doesn't bother you that your mother is really a guy?"

"Of course it bothers me, but I just need to get over it. It's not like I can really control any of it."

"You know what, for an eight-year-old, you really are a lot more mature than one would think."

"Well, when you have a father who has less directional sense then a kumquat, and leaves you in the market place of a city by your self, you kind of grow up quickly."

"Wait, why did Akari let Ryoga take you alone to the market?"

"Long story short, Akari was gone and Ryoga got hungry. We thought that I could get us in and out with no problem, but you turn your back on him and he's gone."

"You can say that again." Ranma chuckled.

"Mom?" Arianna looked up at Ranma.

"Yes dear?" Ranma looked down to regard her daughter.

"For now, can you just hold me?"

"Aw, come here." Ranma gathered her up onto her lap and just held her, like a mother comforting her daughter.

From her vantage point on the ladder that was still leaning up against the house, Akane looked onto the scene unfolding on the roof. Any anger she still bore for Ranma melted away as she looked on.

After several minutes, Ranma let out a long sigh. Arianna looked up at her with a questioning look. "Well, for now to answer your question, I guess we take you back to your father, then get you both back up to Akari's farm. After that?" Ranma shrugged his shoulders.

"You'll come back here and make up with Aunt Akane." Arianna said matter-of-factly.

"Its just not that simple." Ranma sighed.

"You got that right." Akane felt now was the time to make her presence known.

"Akane!" Ranma turned her head to look at her wife.

"First off, I think that Akari has been burdened with this little one for too long."

"What do you mean?" Arianna asked.

"Well, if it's ok with your father, and your mother," Akane shot Ranma a look, "I think you should move in here with us. After all, living on an isolated pig farm can't be good for a young girl's social life, and we have more than enough room here."

"Oh, thank you Aunt Akane!" Arianna shot up out of Ranma's lap and hugged Akane.

"Well, now that that's all settled, I'm going to change and contact Shampoo and let her know that we have found Arianna." Ranma got up and started walking toward the ladder.

"Hold it right there mister!" Akane call to Ranma after she got two steps away. "There is still a matter of your punishment."

"My punishment?" Ranma turned and looked at Akane.

"Yes, your punishment for not trusting me to tell me about Arianna." Ranma gulped.

A week later, at Ukchans, Ukyo was just clearing off the last table of the lunch rush when the curtain rustling caused her to look toward the door. "Welcome to Ukchan's. Oh, hi Akane, hello Arianna." The two aforementioned girls entered the restaurant both were wearing nice sundresses. "You two look nice today, so what's the occasion?" Ukyo inquired.

"Aunt Akane and myself are just enacting my mothers punishment." Arianna giggled.

"Really, I don't see Ranma anywhere." Ukyo pointed out.

"RANMA, get in here!" Akane called out the door.

"Do I have to?" Ranma's very female voice replied from just outside the door.

"Yes, now get in here." After a second, Ranma entered the door. Ukyo busted out laughing. Ranma was dressed up in what had to be the most big and frilly dress in all of Nerima. Not only that, but Ranma's face had been totally made up.

"Shut up, it's not funny."

"Yes it is." By now, Ukyo was holding her sides. Even Akane and Arianna had started laughing.

"Oh, come on, are you going to take our order or not?" Ranma grumbled.

"Be right with you, just let me catch my breath." Ukyo managed out. Ranma just started grumbling under her breath, which caused the girls to laugh that much harder.

"Am I ever going to get served here?"

The end.


End file.
